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Friday, July 5, 2013

Egypt: an Anarchist vision of the 2013 revolutionary movement

Waging Nonviolence published recently an interview with Egyptian Anarchist Mohammed Hassan Aazab in the context of the massive revolutionary uprising of these last days. I reproduce here some excerpts:

(...) Who called for the general strike? Are there particular unions involved?

No. The unions are totally ineffective.

So how is the strike organized?

Tamarod [the Rebel Movement] called for the general strike. Actually,
it has not been organized in advance; it has been a spontaneous
development. It will work by people believing in and supporting it.

Do you think people will follow through?

Port Said will start the general strike tomorrow. I have no idea to
what extent people will follow through on it, beyond that. But it’s
clear people are absolutely determined to force Morsi out.

(...)

How are anarchists organizing within this particular moment. I got
the sense that some of you were involved with Tamarod, but are you
playing a particular role?

No, anarchists didn’t sign onto the Tamarod declaration. Tamarod is
not revolutionary at all. It was just obvious that the movement
connected with millions of Egyptians, so we joined the protests. The
protesters yesterday were against the idea of an Islamic dictator, but
at the same time, most of them are okay with a civil or military
dictator. Fuck any dictator. We’ll never forget. We’ll never forgive.

And you’ve got an anarchist tent in Tahrir, right now?Yes. We’ve got four tents, actually.

(...)

How can people here best support you all?

By spreading the word that Obama and U.S. government are actively
supporting the formation of religious states in the Middle East. The
U.S. ambassador said that Egyptians should learn the meaning of
democracy! Who the fuck is she to say that?